My Philosophy Essay

[ironmonk]

The below is my philosophy essay, I thought some here may enjoy reading some of the scholars that I speak of - or debating my points. The essay is an answer to:

[quote]“What is wisdom?” How has your view changed since the beginning of the course? Why? Of the views that we studied in detail (Socrates, Thoreau, Huxley, Pieper, and Frankl), whose seems to be the most reasonable? Why? Whose seems to be the least reasonable? Why? [/quote]

Wisdom is many things. It is the reasoning in which we make a good decision over a bad decision. It is knowing how to apply our knowledge to the world around us. I believe that wisdom is something that can be strengthened in someone but not necessarily learned by anyone. I believe that wisdom can help us think out of the box. It can help us anticipate potential problems and avoid them. I believe that wisdom is a precursor of psychology, and that they belong together. I believe wisdom is a spiritual gift which enables one to know the purpose and plan of God and is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1831).

I do not believe that my view of wisdom has changed much since the beginning of the course, except that wisdom has changed my view of psychology. I have been a lover of wisdom and psychology since a young pre-teen. At fifteen I spent weeks reading the wisdom books of the bible (Proverbs, Sirach, and Wisdom) and would pray for wisdom. I surrounded myself with which I thought was wise. I placed quotes from various scholars (Aristotle, Socrates, Bacon, quotes from Scripture, etc…) on the walls of my room. I was very excited to take this philosophy course, I plan to read more from some of the scholars that we have studied, and though my degree goal is Computer Information Systems, I plan to take more philosophy classes as electives.

Of the views that we have studied in detail, I cannot decide which was the most reasonable, because there are two that I think compliment each other. I believe that both are equally reasonable. The two views that I have found most reasonable and logical are Josef Pieper, and Viktor Frankl.

Both Pieper and Frankl seem to show that philosophy is worthless without God. I fully agree with Pieper’s observation that that our minds must conform to the truth, however I do realize that sometimes the vice of pride can blind a man to the truth. For example many people today are not just non-believing in God, but they are anti-religious. It is almost as if they are angry with God and saying that they do not believe in Him is there way to get Him back. There exists so much proof if one only looks. As with at one time many people thought the world to be flat, so with people of today believing that there is no God. Also, Pieper’s view that the world of today puts far too much focus on work and not on philosophy and theology is another element of his views that I find to be true. I look back at the past six years and I see how my work increased and my philosophical and theological life has decreased. With the decrease of my spiritual life so has my happiness decreased.

Frankl’s logotherapy, which involved the search for the meaning of life, goes hand in hand with Pieper’s observations. I believe the answer to the meaning of life lies with God. Without God, life has little to no meaning at all. Frankl’s experiences and observations in the concentration camp give validity to Frankl’s views and theories. I believe his view on mental vs. physical suffering is correct. Mental suffering is greater anguish than physical. Physical suffering will pass with time. Mental suffering can haunt a man for life. His view on suffering is in accordance with what the Catholic Church teaches. Through suffering we come closer to God. Without God, physical suffering causes greater mental anguish to men. Frankl’s view on the forgetting of oneself is something that I believe to be a major part of being happy. When we stop focusing on ourselves, and focus on helping others, our problems tend to disappear. When we forget ourselves and let go of our wants, when we accept whatever befalls us, then there is nothing that can disturb our mental being. We can see Frankl’s views, on the will to meaning and suffering, to be true in today’s society also. We see all too often in teens today that they cannot seem to find meaning in their lives. Many turn to drugs, and many kill themselves because they are lost without something to give them meaning. Many of these teens do not have any physical suffering and yet find the mental anguish unbearable. I believe that these few points outlined above speak volumes for Frankl’s views.

Of the scholars that we have studied in detail, I believe that the most unreasonable is Aldous Huxley. I agree that with Huxley that there could never be a real Utopia, I believe that there could not be one because of human nature with all of its vices, such as greed, pride, and envy. Just because Utopia is unattainable does not mean that we should not try. For when we try to reach the unattainable, we will reach higher places than we thought possible. I totally disagree with his argument that human freedom lies in our uniqueness. His view of uniqueness being hereditary would be from an influence of his grandfather’s evolution theory. I believe that our uniqueness (mentality) is actually a combination of nurture and nature. Though from birth we may be prone to certain levels of irritability, we all have different stimuli growing up and the choice we make determine the outcome of each stimulus, we learn, and that is what shapes our uniqueness. Though Huxley was a highly intelligent man, I believe that his logic was severely flawed. Knowing that he was a member of the “elite” could have been what made him pompous. His novel Island (1962) with its use of LSD vs. his novel Brave New World (1932) and it’s use of Soma is contradictory. If he had wrote Island before writing Brave New World, it would have made sense that he could have came to a rationalization that LSD is a bad choice. Since the reverse actually happened, where in 1932 he condemned drugs through his portrayal of Soma, and then to accept them thirty years later is a major lack of logic. I believe that Huxley was experiencing existential frustration.

-----------------------



God Bless,
ironmonk

[phatcatholic]

it is my understanding that what helped Frankl survive his horrific travails in the concentration camps was to "concentrate" (pun intended ) on the mental image of someone who loves you and to never let it go. in this case it was his wife. if i remember the book correctly, there was a time while he was in captivity in which they were marching in the snow. he fell and literally could not get up. a soldier began kicking him to move on. were it not for the love he had for his wife, and his picture of her in his mind, he would have died right then and there.

of course, this has obvious implications to the love of God. imagine what we can achieve if we never forget that God loves us--and especially when we concentrate our whole mind on loving him in return.

very profound.....

oh, and good work ironmonk

Edited June 23, 2004 by phatcatholic

[qfnol31]

Awesome job.

The only philosophy essay I've made an A on would bore you.

[Crusader_4]

Great Job Ironmonk enjoyed reading it !

[ironmonk]

Thanks brothas, I'm glad you liked it.

by the way... "existential frustration" is one of Frankl's terminologies. Existential frustration results from someone not being able to find meaning in their life.

Josef Pieper was Catholic... the book that I think is a must read is "Leisure - the Basis of Culture" - Leisure is not what most people think it is. It's an awesome read.

Victor Frankl was Jewish... the book of his that I think is a must read is "Man's Search For Meaning" (An introduction to logotherapy).


God Bless!
ironmonk

[Cure of Ars]

I remember reading Victor Frankl’s book. It was good. I do not put too much trust in existentialism though. Because of original sin, man’s experience is not a stable foundation to build too much truth on. Human nature it too distorted by sin, unless you’re a saint. It’s better to start from God and work towards man.

Good work Iron Monk

Edited June 24, 2004 by Cure of Ars